natural depression

Other forms: natural depressions

Definitions of natural depression

1. noun

   a sunken or depressed geological formation
   synonyms: depression

   antonyms:

   natural elevation

   a raised or elevated geological formation

   types:

   basin

   a natural depression in the surface of the land often with a lake at the bottom of it

   bed, bottom

   a depression forming the ground under a body of water

   crater

   a bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or bomb

   hole, hollow

   a depression hollowed out of solid matter

   lowland

   low level country

   sink, sinkhole, swallow hole

   a depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof

   deep, oceanic abyss, trench

   a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor

   trough

   a narrow depression (as in the earth or between ocean waves or in the ocean bed)

   vale, valley

   a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river

   burrow, tunnel

   a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter

   cirque, corrie, cwm

   a bowl-shaped mountain basin formed by glacier erosion; may contain a lake

   collector

   a crater that has collected cosmic material hitting the earth

   dale

   an open river valley (in a hilly area)

   glen

   a narrow secluded valley (in the mountains)

   gopher hole

   a hole in the ground made by gophers

   gully

   a deep ditch cut by running water (especially after a prolonged downpour)

   holler, hollow

   a small valley between mountains

   kettle, kettle hole

   (geology) a hollow (typically filled by a lake) that results from the melting of a mass of ice trapped in glacial deposits

   lake bed, lake bottom

   the bottom of a lake

   landfill

   a low area that has been filled in

   lunar crater

   a crater on the Earth's Moon

   nullah

   a ravine or gully in southern Asia

   Davy Jones, Davy Jones's locker, ocean bottom, ocean floor, sea bottom, sea floor, seabed

   the bottom of a sea or ocean

   cavity, pit

   a sizable hole (usually in the ground)

   chuckhole, pothole

   a pit or hole produced by wear or weathering (especially in a road surface)

   rabbit burrow, rabbit hole

   a hole in the ground as a nest made by wild rabbits

   ravine

   a deep narrow steep-sided valley (especially one formed by running water)

   rift valley

   a valley with steep sides; formed by a rift in the earth's crust

   river bottom, riverbed

   a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a river

   saltpan

   a shallow basin in a desert region; contains salt and gypsum that was deposited by an evaporated salt lake

   creek bed, streambed

   a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a stream

   swale

   a low area (especially a marshy area between ridges)

   tidal basin

   a basin that is full of water at high tide

   wormhole

   a tunnel made by a burrowing soft-bodied animal or insect larva

   type of:

   formation, geological formation

   (geology) the geological features of the earth